What’s the future of the Pi Network?
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What is Pi Network? What you need to know about Pi Coin, a project token in the making
Lod, Israel - July 8, 2020: Pi Network app play store page on the display of a black mobile smartphone on dark marble stone background. Top view flat lay with copy space.
The Pi Network claimed to reach over 33 million users in March 2022 – Photo: Maor_Winetrob / Shutterstock.com
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Over the years, blockchain innovation has reached new heights, with the mining process becoming easier and less time-consuming.
The Pi cryptocurrency is an upcoming crypto initiative that claims to provide users with all of the advantages of bitcoin (BTC) whilst avoiding its disadvantages.
The Pi currency has no value, as of 21 October 2022. It cannot be sold on any exchange. It does not yet exist on a live blockchain. It has no wallet. It's mined by people signing into the Pi app from their phones and tapping a button.
Given such enigmatic characteristics, it's no surprise that many curious parties are left asking "what is the Pi cryptocurrency?"
In this article, we'll look at this unusual new cryptocurrency and outline its key features.
What is Pi Network and Pi coin?
The Pi network was established by Stanford University academics Nicolas Kokkalis and Chengdiao Fan. They started working on it in 2018 to create digital money for everyone. On March 14, 2019, they published a whitepaper and released the Pi Network app.
The project promises to be environmentally sustainable, which might help attract climate-conscious investors. It may be especially effective since the crypto market has often been reprimanded for its substantial energy consumption due to energy-intensive procedures like proof-of-work (PoW), which degrades the environment.
The Pi Network app is used to mine Pi, and the mining procedure needs users to hit a button on their phone every 24 hours. Pi mining is technically not crypto mining since no mining is taking place. Users are not confirming transactions at this time, at least not yet. In actuality, individuals get PI tokens for accessing the application once per day and demonstrating that they are not a robot.
Users must get an invitation code from a member to join the app. Pi Network has a referral system in which users earn extra money dependent on how many others register using their invitation code.
According to the whitepaper for the Pi Network, the native cryptocurrency will not be introduced until phase 3 of the project, when the Pi Network mainnet is launched. Developers have not provided any hints on a timeframe.
How does Pi Network work?
Pi Network differs from many other cryptocurrencies in that it employs a proprietary mechanism known as the Stellar Consensus Protocol, which enables users to receive benefits for their participation in the network.
The Pi ecosystem is built on a revolutionary technique known as the Federated Byzantine Agreement (FBA), which enables a set of computers to reach an agreement without needing a central authority.
The SCP is intended to be more secure, scalable, and quick than existing schemes such as proof of work (PoW) and proof of stake (PoS).
The Stellar Consensus Protocol employs a merit-based mechanism that encourages participants to contribute to the network by validating transactions and blocks. The more users one adds to the Pi ecosystem, the more incentives one gets.
On Pi, users may play one of four roles:
Pioneer: Miners who mine Pi by tapping the lightning button. There were more than 33 million Pioneers, as of 14 March 2022.
Contributor: A participant who provides a list of trustworthy users to the network in exchange for an incentive.
Ambassadors: Participants who promote new users to the network using their referral code receive a bonus.
Nodes: Participants using the Pi node software on their home computers
According to the project, when it was launched, the basic mining rate was 1.6 π per hour, which was reduced to 0.8 π after 100,000 users were added. When one million people began using the app, the reward decreased to 0.4 π per hour, and then it was reduced to 0.2 π per hour once its user base surpassed 10 million. The benefits will continue to diminish until they hit zero when the network reaches 1 billion members.
Pi coin price analysis
The Pi coin is an unlisted token that is practically worthless, as of 21 October. As a result, there is no historical data on the Pi Network's performance since the token has not yet been launched on any cryptocurrency exchanges.
The Pi network's creators are yet to reveal the number of coins in circulation when the project is formally launched. The maximum supply is still to be determined.
Pi coin news and price drivers
The Pi Network has undergone several milestones lately and this may further drive the craze around the Pi coin.
Launch of Pi Connect
In September 2022, the Pi Network announced the launch of Pi Connect. PiConnect intends to address current Pi Network crypto limitations, such as mining incentives and liquidity availability. Furthermore, the program intends to offer users information on Pi's price and conversion rate for other popular cryptocurrencies.
PiConnect allows Pi Network users to make interoperable trades with other blockchain networks like Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Ethereum (ETH), Polygon (MATIC), and others quickly, affordably, and securely.
In addition to bridging with Blockchain, PiConnect aims to provide farming and staking, a launchpad platform, lending, auction, and a marketplace, among other things.
Launch of Pi Bridge
In September 2022, the Pi Network announced Pi Bridge. PiBridge seeks to provide a bridge between the Pi network and other blockchains, beginning with the Binance Smart Chain (BSC).
PiBridge, according to the development team, is a trustless gateway that removes the gap between the Pi network and other blockchains, making Pi available and reachable to the public and providing Pi users with a new permissionless and transparent financial instrument.
Pi Bridge will enable data to move across networks and Pi holders to transit between them freely. This is also a pre-opened opportunity for Pi holders to capitalise on the asset's worth.
Pi Coin price forecast
There are no Pi Network price predictions available, since the coin has not yet been formally launched. The Pi Network also lacks a price history, making it impossible to analyse how its price reacts to crypto market fluctuations.
Furthermore, doing a fully-fledged fundamental analysis is also impossible. To forecast the price of the Pi coin, it's crucial to consider the cryptocurrency's existing and prospective use cases, the number of individuals who currently own Pi coins, the team of engineers behind it, the Pi Network's future potential, and so on. In the case of Pi, there's no way of knowing all these facts.
The Pi Network will be listed on cryptocurrency exchanges soon. If this occurs, the Pi coin's price will grow beyond its value of $0.
When such much-anticipated projects are initially listed on cryptocurrency exchanges, their prices often surge over the first few weeks. When individuals hurry to acquire the new prospective 'big thing', the market cap rises due to the tremendous demand. As a result, the price of the Pi network may rise.
However, the price does not usually stay high for an extended period. It usually lowers a few days after the first hype fades because people begin selling their coins to earn quick profits. Will the Pi network suffer the same fate? Time will tell.
According to Susannah Streeter, a senior investing and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, Pi “has no value" as it “cannot yet be traded”.
Ms Streeter also said that the app is based on “very nascent and experimental technology”.
She added:
“Despite high claims, there is no assurance that this network will have a future, and it is much too early to know whether the coins acquired will be worth anything.”
What’s the future of the Pi Network?
While the Pi Network has a lofty ambition of allowing anybody to mine crypto and make blockchain technology more accessible, it has been riddled with controversies.
The strong incentive structure significantly favours recruitment, while miners are compensated in a native cryptocurrency with no real value.
Meanwhile, the Pi currency has attained widespread acceptance in various countries, including Vietnam. Pi Browser, the Pi Network's mobile app, recently became the fourth most downloaded non-gaming software in Vietnam on the Apple App Store and the sixth most downloaded on Google Play.
Meanwhile, according to Phan Minh Tun, a blockchain specialist at the Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology in Hà Ni, although mining Pi is free, there are possible risks that the Pi Network software might take even more information from a device.
While it is too early to declare Pi Network a scam, investors are recommended to exercise caution when dealing with similar sorts of cryptocurrency ventures, not only Pi Network.